by Sharon Bishin, Corporate & Employability Trainer

It’s inevitable….sunny days, warm air wafting in the window, the inviting sound of people outside enjoying the weather….it is really hard to focus job search mid summer. Do you even want a job offer now?

The truth is, however, that this is an important time to be organizing and reaching out, because job search never really stops. Try these seven things (July is month #7) to enhance your summer job search:

1. Have you clarified what type of industry, company and job that you want? If you are not clear on your goal, it is hard to reach it. Employability specialists liken this to taking a trip: if you don’t know your destination, how do you even know what route to take?

2. Are you equally clear on your particular skillset? Employers want to hear an articulate recap of how YOU could bring value to their operation. If you cannot identify your strengths then they will not be so eager to employ you.

3. Could you be using this downtime for self-improvement by sharpening skills such as learning another computer program, improving a language, practising interview questions, tweaking your CV or improving your profile on a social media platform such as LinkedIn or Twitter?

4. How strong is your network? Are you continually thinking about which ex-colleagues, business associates, friends, teachers, professionals, fitness partners, company owners, neighbourhood connections, etc… might find your work potential relevant?

5. Have you mastered the art of the Informational Interview, where you ask someone to meet with you for 15 minutes to talk about their company, their career path or how you might strengthen your skills? This is best not done with the HR department and the focus is on general conversations around the company – NOT as a direct request for a job.

6. Take a quick pulse of your attitude; are you generally optimistic, energetic and give off a positive vibe? Or are you carrying around some baggage from previous job experiences that work against your candidacy?

7. Do you commit to at least five job search events a day – responding to postings, emailing contacts, following up on leads, calling for an informational interview, growing your social media presence or setting up job search alerts so that people are able to find you?

Job search is a numbers game. It is not about doing one or two of the things on the list, it is about doing many of them simultaneously, in order to reap positive rewards. So, certainly enjoy your pool time, but don’t let it overtake the job of getting a job.